Christine Lagarde to step down as ECB president on 7 February, nine months early
Christine Lagarde will step down as president of the European Central Bank on 7 February 2027, the ECB announced on Thursday, about nine months before her eight-year term was due to end in October 2027. She informed the Governing Council and European Council President António Costa, who said the process to appoint her successor starts immediately.
Christine Lagarde will leave the presidency of the European Central Bank on 7 February 2027, the ECB said in a short statement on Thursday, 29 October. Lagarde, who has led the euro area's central bank since November 2019, told the bank's Governing Council and the President of the European Council, António Costa, of her decision earlier in the day.
Her eight-year mandate was due to run until October 2027, so she is leaving roughly nine months early. The ECB statement gave no reason for the timing. According to the bank, the Governing Council thanked Lagarde warmly and gave her a long standing ovation.
Her successor will be chosen by EU leaders under Article 283 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union: the European Council, meeting in its euro area format, appoints the ECB president on a recommendation from the Council of the EU, after consulting the European Parliament and the ECB's Governing Council.
Costa said he "respectfully acknowledged" her decision and that the appointment process would begin the same day and "proceed without delay", with a view to a timely decision. He praised Lagarde for guiding the euro area through the pandemic, a war in Europe, energy crises and inflation shocks, saying she had helped safeguard the stability and resilience of the euro area.
The departure had been the subject of speculation for months. In February the Financial Times reported, as relayed by Reuters, that Lagarde planned to leave before France's 2027 presidential election, which would give President Emmanuel Macron a say in choosing her successor. At the time Lagarde told the Wall Street Journal that her baseline was to complete her term. Names mentioned by Reuters as possible successors included Klaas Knot, Pablo Hernández de Cos and Joachim Nagel.
Before joining the ECB, Lagarde, a former French finance minister, served as managing director of the International Monetary Fund from 2011 to 2019. Her time in Frankfurt was marked by the fight against the highest euro area inflation in decades, which the ECB tackled with an unprecedented series of interest rate rises from 2022.